The Waukesha Plan Commission Wednesday night approved a temporary homeless shelter at St. Matthias Episcopal Church, 111 E. Main St., for a second consecutive year.

The shelter’s return to the near-downtown church reinvigorated debate about whether the city, which is the county seat, tolerates too many social welfare activities.

Another concern was how the concentration of non-taxpaying welfare agencies in the downtown affect other fragile downtown inhabitants - such as business and property owners.

The only choice presented to the commission was to either approve the church’s permit or vote it down and send charitable groups scrambling to find another suitable site before winter sets in.

The commission approved it 5-1. Only commissioner Curt Otto voted against it after he expressed disappointment that a study group assembled by Mayor Larry Nelson to find an alternative site, failed to do so.

Nelson was unapologetic in his choice of group members and argued he was honest and open  when asked about the group’s progress and findings.

Ald. Randy Radish who represents the area had raised questions about the makeup of the group, professionals in the fields of mental health and homelessness along with city and county government officials and staff.

“I will not apologize for doing my job…,” Nelson said.

“If anyone knows of another viable location, I’d like to hear about it,” Nelson said.

He added that if re-elected this spring, he would launch another examination into Waukesha being the main caregiver in Waukesha County for the homeless.

The shelter operator, the Hebron House of  Hospitality, got a conditional use permit to run the shelter from Nov. 15 of this year through April 30, 2010. Its hours will be 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. with a maximum capacity of 35 men.

The Common Council chambers where the commission met was packed, mostly with church and charity groups that wanted to show their support for the shelter.

No one expressed opposition to the shelter or disputed its need during these hard times.

The specific complaints centered on the shelter’s location and the makeup of  Nelson’s study committee, which did not include anyone from the downtown.

The lone audience member to question the wisdom of the location was downtown resident Vicky Hekkers.

Hekkers insisted that if downtown people would have been invited by Nelson to be on the relocation group , a solution might have been found.

“Help us grow our businesses,” Hekkers told Nelson, who is chairman of the commission. ” This is about a zoning issue, not about caring for the poor. The group only looked at churches and Northview.”

Ald. Joan Francoeur, a commissioner, echoed Hekkers comments.

“Putting the two populations with different realities together is very difficult,” she said of the situation.

Bernie Juno, director of  Hebron House, was told by city officials that the Fire Department would not allow the church to be used on a temporary basis after the newly approved permit expires. If it returned for a third year, the site would be considered a permanent shelter and subjected to expensive fire prevention upgrades, such as installing sprinklers in the ceiling.